General Gardening Information

General Asotin County Gardening Information

Timing can be very important when gardening. Here’s the Asotin County recommended gardening schedule.

January, February, March

January is a planning month in the valley. Think about making your garden more interesting for next winter: include plants that offer unusual tree forms, bark textures, persistent berries and seed heads in your plans this year. Include vegetables if you have not done so before, or alternately plan for flowers that attract wildlife. Vegetables and annual flowers need to be planted on a schedule. Frost-hardy and cool-season plants can be seeded outdoors or started much earlier than warm-season plants. Read more (pdf)

April, May, June

Keep those weed numbers low. Weeding now will save you a lot of work later. Do not use weed and feed products near trees or shrubs. Plant roses in a well drained area with the graft two inches below the soil. They need to have at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. April is a good time to seed marigolds, zinnias and cosmos indoors if you did not do it in March. Nasturtiums and sweet-peas can be sown directly into the soil. Finish pruning chores on all but the spring shrubs and trees. Fertilize spring-blooming shrubs after flowering is complete. Set out pots for container gardening. Read more (pdf)

July, August, September

Fertilize lawns in early July for the last time before September. Water the lawn according to temperature and soil moisture, not the calendar. Water deeply when the top one or two inches of soil are dry. In addition to their regular watering schedule, it helps to deep-water trees and shrubs a couple of times each month during the hot weather by letting a hose run slowly enough for the water to soak into the ground directly beneath the plant. Do not fertilize trees, shrubs or fruit trees after mid-August. Read more (pdf)

October, November, December

In November, mound mulch 6 to 8 inches high around the base of rose bushes and prune back to canes enough to keep them from whipping around in the wind. Uses for leaves – if composting is not in your plans for this year – there are other ways to use this valuable natural resource: Fill the paths between raised beds now, for fewer weeds next spring; till leaves into the soil in fall to break down by spring; fill bags of leaves and use as insulation around cold frames; use as a winter mulch on bare ground to reduce erosion. Read more (pdf)